Pianists Adam Sherkin and Anthony de Mare will be performing together in Composers in Play XV, part of the ongoing Piano Lunaire concert series. The show takes place on October 18 at the TD Music Hall in a venue debut for both artists.
Composers In Play XV: “Ink from the Shield” presents a program of (almost) all-Canadian new music that originally premiered in New York City in March 2025.
On the program are works by Canadian composers Vivian Fung, Ann Southam, Linda Catlin Smith, Rodney Sharman, Adam Sherkin and Jared Miller, and a newly-commissioned world premiere from Andrew Staniland. Also on the program are contributions from American composers Kevin Puts, Steve Reich and Conrad Tao.
LV spoke to Adam Sherkin and Anthony de Mare about the upcoming recital.
Pianists Adam Sherkin & Anthony de Mare
Adam Sherkin has been presenting his Piano Lunaire series, which produces concerts on full moon dates, in both Toronto and New York City for several years. The native of Toronto, who is a graduate of the Glenn Gould School of Music, has performed at the Four Seasons Centre, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, the Music Gallery, the Glenn Gould Studio, St Martin-in-the Fields, Covent Garden and the Royal Albert Hall, among other venues worldwide.
Anthony de Mare makes a return to Toronto after about seven years. A Professor of Piano at Manhattan School of Music, de Mare has served as new music curator for the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in NYC, and is a guest curator at Kaufman Music Center. In Toronto, he has a history of performing with organizations like New Music Concerts, and the 21C Music Festival.
Pianists Adam Sherkin & Anthony de Mare: The Interview
“The last time I played here was the 21C Festival in 2018,” recalls de Mare. He performed frequently in Toronto at venues like the Music Gallery in the 1980s and 1990s.
The New York native is a proponent and acclaimed interpreter of new music, including work by Canadian composers. “I’ve played a lot of Canadian music.”
Is there a distinctly Canadian style? Or is it more broadly part of a North American vein in the world of contemporary music?
“I think it’s more North American,” de Mare says.
As both pianists point out, there is so much back and forth across the border in terms of music and artists, that styles and influences are much the same. They mention Canadian-born Jared Miller, who’s Assistant Professor of Composition in the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
“I would almost argue that his music’s gotten more American,” Sherkin says. The piece they’ll be playing, the second movement of Miller’s The Bright Exuberant Silence, was inspired by walking through a deserted Times Square during the pandemic lockdowns.
“The electricity was still present even when it was empty,” de Mare says.
“You can get a lot from it on first listen,” Sherkin says. “He reminds me a bit of Kevin Lau. He wrote me a very fine 7 or 8 minute piece.”
Other material for the recital comes from musical connections. “Linda Catlin Smith and Rodney Sharman I’ve known for years,” Anthony says. He says he’s exchanged many emails with composer Vivian Fung.
“She’s another great example of a Canadian who’s done great in the US,” Adam notes.
The New York Program Debut
The New York concert on March 18, 2025, debuted the program (with a few modifications) just around the time of the US federal elections, and talk about the 51st state.
“The New York audience was sympathetic to that,” Sherkin says.
“A lot of students came, and were very taken with [the music],” de Mare notes.
Adam explains that the New York program was modified for Toronto to allow for more duo pieces, and mixed up the repertoire, rather than separating the solo and duo works.
“Some of the other feedback we got was curiosity and delight,” Sherkin says. Many of the professional musicians in attendance were interested in the music they weren’t familiar with.
The concert format was also a hit.
“People seem to enjoy us playing together,” Adam says.
Anthony explains that the two musicians met in 2024, both of them working on a project involving Steve Reich’s piece Six Pianos. While the two had heard of each other by reputation, and their recordings, they’d never met in person before.
Piano Lunaire: Toronto to New York
The Piano Lunaire series is unique today as an artistic exchange that crosses borders.
“I wish more series would do that,” Anthony remarks.
Piano Lunaire’s format allows for both NY and Toronto audiences to experience music and artists they may not otherwise have contact with. During the time it’s been in operation, it has commissioned works, and championed younger and emerging artists, including composers.
“I started Piano Lunaire in 2018 because I wanted to downsize,” Sherkin says. “We’re particularly advocating for young artists.”
Both artist are also interested in stretching the boundaries of genre. De Mare’s 2015 release Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim From The Piano features riffs on Sondheim tracks from people like Steve Reich, Wynton Marsalis, and Fred Hersch.
“We commissioned 14 more to bring [the track count] up to 50,” Sherkin says. De Mare’s Liaisons II All Things Bright And Beautiful Re-Imagining Sondheim From The Piano, released in spring 2025, includes the Kevin Puts solo piece that Anthony will play in the recital. “That crosses genres as well.” The album incorporates music for opera, indie film, and other contemporary genres.
“It creates a nice balance with the Canadian pieces,” Anthony adds.
“There’s a nice textural variety,” Adam notes. Puts is well known in the US, but less so north of the border. He was the composer behind The Hours, an opera that premiered at The Met, based on Michael Cunningham’s novel and the 2002 film of the same name.
More Canadian Content
The music of Ann Southam was a natural choice for a Canadian program.
“We’ve got to represent Ann Southam,” Sherkin says.
He’s noted an increased interest in her music over the last few years, noting the reception after a 2023 recital that included her work. “Everyone wanted to get in on it,” Adam says. He also comments on growing interest in her music in New York circles.
Andrew Staniland’s work is a world premiere. “I think for me the Andrew Staniland is an interesting piece,” Sherkin comments. “This is a piece that was originally commissioned by New Music Concerts for two accordions.”
The piece is titled Pentagrams. Staniland rearranged three of the Pentagrams for two pianos.
“That’s what we’re giving a world premiere of on Saturday,” Adam says.
“They’re fun,” Anthony adds.
Adam Sherkin’s own piece is also on the program, the titular Ink from the Shield.
“This was a piece that was in draft mode for a few years,” Sherkin says. It was inspired by Benjamin Britten’s brief visit to Canada in 1940 with partner Peter Pears as a pacifist looking for an escape from European war zones. “That was the inspiration.” Britten’s letters talk about the drive through the Laurentian mountains. “All he writes about is the mosquitoes,” Sherkin laughs.
After the Laurentians, the pair went on to Toronto and Bala in Muskoka region, and Halifax, before hitting the United States.
Sherkin’s piece consists of three short movements inspired by that trip.
“The Halifax [piece] is very short,” de Mare adds.
- Find concert details and tickets for the October 18 recital [HERE].
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